Aldi's proposal to build 175 apartments on the former Premier Dairies site in Finglas, Dublin 11 has been opposed by local residents.
Dublin City Council granted permission for three apartment blocks from six to eight storeys last November but this has been appealed to An Bord Pleanála by two parties.
This is the latest twist in a long running planning saga and the third time the discount supermarket chain has sought permission on the large site on the Finglas Road in Dublin 11.
In 2004, both Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanála refused permission for a single storey discount food store on a 0.77-hectare part of the site.
The board ruled that the store would have a "negative impact on the vitality and viability of Finglas village".
A year later Aldi was refused planning permission for a store and 104 apartments in five blocks from three to five storeys on an 0.81-hectare part of the same site on the grounds that the "extensive surface retail parking would result in a poor residential environment".
This time around residents of Glenhill Road, to the rear of the site, have appealed the decision to grant planning permission to An Bord Pleanála saying the height of apartment blocks will be "totally out of scale" with existing houses in the area and "dwarf" apartment blocks in nearby Premier Square.
They also raise concerns about increased traffic congestion in the area and the demands the inhabitants of the proposed apartments will place on an inadequate infrastructure, including drainage, water and social and recreational amenities.
In his appeal letter, a resident of Premier Square says the proposed development will have an overbearing impact on Block 7 of Premier Square, affecting its privacy and cause overshadowing. He contends there has been "no real assessment of the proposed impact that an additional 200 cars plus would have on the Finglas Road at this location", where a number of apartment developments have been built in recent years.
